Pete opened his notebook. “Can you give me her name?”
“Jenna Haggerty. Nice kid.” Dave eyed Pete. “She in some sort of trouble?”
“I don’t believe so. I need to ask her some questions.”
“This about that woman who was killed in the parking lot last week?”
“As a matter of fact, yes. What do you know about it?”
“Just what I heard on the news. I seen that woman’s husband’s picture on the TV. I seen him here too.”
“When?”
“Oh, it’s been a while now. But he used to hang out with Jenna a lot. I think the poor kid was crazy in love with him. Then they had a big fight, and he hasn’t been around since.”
“How long ago was that?”
Dave thought about it. “A month. Maybe two.”
“Do you know what the fight was about?”
“Nope. You’d have to ask her.”
“How long has she been out of town?”
“Not quite three weeks. Left on April nineteenth. Asked me to water her plants.”
“Do you have a phone number where I could reach her?”
“Sorry.”
Pete wasn’t sure he believed the man but handed him a business card. “I’d appreciate it if you’d give her that and ask her to contact me when she gets home.”
“Chief. Come in.” Dustin Landis appeared surprised to see him when Pete rang his doorbell. “Have you found Elizabeth’s killer?”
“I need to ask you a few more questions.”
Landis seemed cautious, apparently detecting the chill in Pete’s voice. “Okay.”
Pete watched his expression. “I spoke with Rebecca Weaver.”
Landis’ left eye twitched. “Oh.”
“I also spoke to the manager at Jenna Haggerty’s apartment.”
Any attempt to appear innocent fractured. Stiff-legged, he staggered to an ottoman and sank onto it.
“Do you want to tell me about it?” Pete battled to contain his anger.
Landis couldn’t bring himself to look Pete in the eye. After a couple of stuttering, failed attempts to speak, the widower drank in a deep breath. The exhalation reminded Pete of a death rattle.
“I admit it. I’ve not been a faithful husband. But those relationships were in the past. Rebecca was ancient history…and wasn’t much more than a one-night stand.”
“And the Haggerty woman?”
“She was a mistake. I broke it off six weeks ago.”
“Because your wife found out about it?”
Pete took Landis’ silence as confirmation.
“Did your wife know about the others? There have been others, right?”
This brought Landis’ eyes up. “No.” He winced. “I mean, no, Elizabeth never knew.” Reluctantly, he added, “And yes, there have been others.”
“You’re certain she didn’t know?”
“Positive. She never suspected a thing until someone she knew spotted me at my girlfriend’s apartment. Elizabeth called me out on it. Told me to choose between the two of them.” He fixed Pete with an earnest gaze. “Chief, I honestly loved my wife. It was an easy choice. I broke things off that same night. Elizabeth and I went into couples therapy. We were working it out.”
“What about the girlfriend? How did she take it?”
Landis’ eyes widened. Pete had just tossed him a lifeline, and he latched onto it. “Not well. Do you think she did it?”
“Do you?”
“I don’t know.” Landis’ eyes shifted to different spots around the room, although Pete suspected he wasn’t checking out the candlesticks on the shelf or the flower arrangement on the coffee table.
Fifteen
Present day
Zoe had visited the county courthouse many times over the years, but this was her first summons to the District Attorney’s office. She wasn’t sure what to expect.
A secretary directed her through an oversized door where DA Frattini met her with an extended hand. “Ms. Chambers, it’s a pleasure to meet you, although I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances.” He gestured toward a pair of overstuffed, fake-leather chairs facing an impressive desk. “Please. Have a seat.”
Nervous, she made a quick survey of the room. Metal shelves filled with fat law tomes. Stacks of files and papers covered every available horizontal space. The clutter of a busy man. Only the surface of the desk remained neat and tidy.
Frattini didn’t circle to his own chair. Instead, he propped a hip on the edge of the desk and folded his arms. “It looks like you’re now the county coroner.”
“Acting county coroner,” she corrected.
He dismissed the adjective with a shake of his head. “For my purposes, you’re ‘it.’”
Zoe shifted in the chair, even more uncomfortable now. “What purposes are you talking about?”
“Giving testimony at trial.” His dark eyes bore into her. “Specifically, the Landis trial.”
She’d known this was coming but had managed to stuff the thought of sitting in a witness stand into the far recesses of her mind.
Frattini must have seen her trepidation and gave her what he probably thought was a reassuring smile. “You’ll do fine. I’ll make sure you’re well prepared.”
“I wasn’t involved in the case back then,” Zoe said. “I wasn’t a deputy coroner. I was just a paramedic. I wasn’t even on duty the night Elizabeth Landis was killed.”
“It doesn’t matter. You’ll represent the office and will simply need to offer the reports made at the time into evidence.”
“Won’t the defense attorney object because of hearsay?”
The forced reassuring smile became one of annoyance. “Have you studied law, Ms. Chambers?”
“No, sir.”
“Then leave the legal arguments to me.”
Zoe lowered her face to hide her own annoyance but decided if she was going to do this, be the county coroner and take on all the ensuing responsibilities, she couldn’t allow this man to intimidate her. She squared her shoulders and met his gaze. “You said you’d make sure I was prepared for court, so prepare me. What exactly should I expect from Anthony Imperatore?”
“We’ll have time to go over all that closer to the trial date—”
“I want to know now.”
His annoyance flared to anger.
Zoe decided the adage about catching more flies with honey than vinegar might hold true in this instance. “This is all new to me. I’ve been learning the forensic side of the job for several years now. Lately, I’ve had a crash course in the administrative end of it. You’re adding additional duties to my plate that Franklin hadn’t prepared me for. If
